Delete Google autocomplete negative results

Google have had the autocomplete function working officially since 2008 but only in the past year has it gained traction and been released for the wider audience to use. There are many businesses and individuals that are affected by negative autocomplete results that wrongly associate their personal name or business name with negative connotations or keywords. The question I’d like to pose is – how do you remove or delete Google autocomplete negative results?

How does Google decide what to show in the autocomplete results?

The Google results page is split up to show a variety of different types of results when you type in a search term. These results are fed to the search engine results page (SERP) and displayed using different algorithms. Each algorithm has a different raison d’etre and hence is influenced by different factors. The most famous algorithm is the one that decides on results for the organic or natural search (purple) section which is most usually affected by proper SEO onpage and offpage optimization techniques. Another algorithm governs the results displayed for the Google AdWords (green) sections (aka PPC) which is paid advertisements. The algorithm that I will focus upon here is the one that decides on what results are shown in the drop-down when the searcher starts to type in a search query (red). These results are able to be clicked on to perform a search or ignored. The algorithm that decides on what results to show in the autocomplete area is majorly affected by tracking the number of searches many people make. The frequency of a search will help enter it into the autocomplete options. Geographic location also plays a role in deciding what autocomplete results are shown to each searcher. That means that the autocomplete results are localized.

What can you do to remove or delete autocomplete negative results?

There are Online Reputation Management (ORM) companies that perform such tasks successfully through use of a large number of workers to perform searches. These many searches based around one search term can eventually insert new autocomplete results which can push out the negative results. This technique is called flooding and is used by ORM companies to clear negative results from the organic (purple) search area as well as clear out negative results in the autocomplete area (red). Google displays a maximum of 10 autocomplete results for any one search term. But for less frequently searched terms, Google can display around 3-4 autocomplete results making the job of flooding quicker and easier.

In mid 2014 Google changed their autocomplete algorithm to make it even harder to insert new results and hence have slowly stemmed the tide of everyday people having their results affected by a few rouge searches. This has made autocomplete results safer from being negatively affected for less searched for individuals and has also raised the bar for companies and professionals to change and influence their own results due to a larger critical mass being needed. You can check this critical mass by using Google trends to compare the competition of one search term to another and see if one search term has been changed by you successfully, then odds are that the other search term with a similar amount of searches will also be able to be changed.

Of course Google’s algorithm ensures each search is from a different IP, the searches are spread over a relatively reasonable period of time (weeks to months) and the searcher, when they click on a result, actually interacts with the page and doesnt bounce instantly. This knocks out many basic crawlers that mimic human searches on Google and pretty much leaves you with crowd sourced options to be able to perform these searches.

Much to the surprise of many experts in the industry, the autocomplete algorithm doesnt actually check for a large number of results indexed with the same search term to decide if the search should appear in the autocomplete area.

There are many individuals and companies that suffer from misleading or negative autocomplete results and that want to get rid of these results. The best way to do this, is to use the services of a trusted ORM company to clean your reputation or company brand name and present you online in the way you deserve to be presented. Feel free to contact me to consult further.

Conclusion

You should remember that if you do have negative results in the autocomplete area of Google’s search showing up, there is a solution. You do not have to simply accept the defamation of your good name and reputation. The important factor to remember is that Google’s results environment is very dynamic hence never believe anyone who promises definite success. Instead – opt for a trial to see if someone can indeed add one result in the autocomplete area before paying for a full project. Also make sure you select a company who has experience in clearing negative autocomplete results because if they do it in an unnatural way – Google’s web spam team will be alerted and could manually freeze certain negative results making them more permanent.

Paul Vesely has over 12 years experience in the dynamic online marketing environment instigating marketing solutions for a wide range of businesses to suit their goals.
Through understanding a company's target market and aims, Paul has managed to launch a wide variety of online marketing campaigns to increase sales, generate leads, and increase bottom line profit.
Paul Vesely's expertise lie in inbound marketing and focus on utilizing search engine optimization, PPC, PR, Social Media and online campaigns to accomplish the client's business goals through online means.
The author's views expressed in this blog are his own and do not represent anyone or any other organization's views even if the author is associated with those organizations.